The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in cooperation with UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) organized training workshop from December 18-21, 2013 for women candidates for forthcoming elections in Libya. The objective of the training is to provide and equip women relevant advocacy and lobbying tools useful in election campaigns. The training also provided an opportunity of networking among the candidates to share their experiences. Moreover, policy analysis and gender equality were also among the topics discussed during the workshop.

In post revolution Libya, the participation of women shows a slight improvement. After revolution, women had only one seat in the National Transitional Council. In the currentGeneral National Congress,women seize 16.5 % of the seats in the national assembly. According to the newly adopted election law for the constitutional drafting committee, women will have 6 seats (10%) out of sixty members to be elected. The interest of women’s participation in the political process is growing gradually as civil Society Organizations and members of the GNC are showing interest of cooperation to ensure women’s representation in the constitution drafting committee.

The training is relevant as the challenges facingwomen candidates are several in the upcoming elections and this kind of skill building training will definitely support women to analyze the political situation in Libya and it will enablefemale candidates to create network and coordinate among different associations for common goals that women want to be integrated in the constitution, said one of the participants in the training.

The participants of the training came from different institutions and cities like Tripoli, Benghazi, and Sabha.